Keeping Track
by Elenhin
Summary: Even as the boys grow older, Jesse Duke is not willing to let go of them completely. Someone has to keep track of what they're doing. One-shot.


**Author's Note: **The Duke boys grew up, and eventually moved out of the nest, but Jesse Duke isn't the type of man to completely let go of his charges and I imagine he always continued to keep track of them.

**Warning**: _The warning is placed here for vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen. _

**Disclaimer**: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….

_**Keeping Track**_

When his boys were younger Jesse made it a point to always know exactly where they were. They had a real knack for getting in trouble, and he worried about them a great deal. If Luke didn't get himself into a fight with his temper it seemed that Bo was off on some kind of adventure, it helped to know where they were.

He got reports from others at times, the old folks most wanted to keep track of their young ones, and they found it helped if they let each others know what was going on. If Mr. Thompson called and said that the boys had been in his watermelon patch again, he knew he'd be spending the evening picking out buck shots.

When they started dating girls it got even worse. They didn't just run after girls, they ran after all the girls, and it didn't matter if they were wanted or not. Most of the girls did, but most of the parents wanted the two Duke boys and their girls as far away from each others as humanly possible. Most off them would gladly have put Bo and Luke as pilots on the next shuttle to the moon, especially if it was a one way trip…

The boys would get caught in hayloft, thankfully always with their pants in the right place or he would have had to do more than pick out buck shots. They went out in the evenings and didn't come back until the crack of dawn.

Luke was even worse than Bo, he was older, had a bit more attitude and a lot more temper. With the years it seemed the opposite, but it wasn't really. Luke back then was impossible to control, and his temper could scare even Jesse. After a few times when he let his anger get the better off him and struck out at Bo, or Cooter, he learned to walk away. The problem then was that he'd get mad about something, decide that he didn't care about his family anymore, and he'd be gone for the night.

Oh, he'd come back every time, usually in the morning, cold miserable and hungry. He didn't really run away, he just needed to burn off the anger in some way, and a cold lonely night in some barn seemed to be the way he did it best. It gave Jesse many sleepless nights as he worried and waited for him to come back home.

Bo was different, he didn't want to be alone the same way, but he didn't do too well away from Luke. He was too trusting, too easy to convince to go along on something. When Luke was in the Marines Jesse was worried that some kids up to no good would talk him into going along and Bo would get into a heap of trouble, or even worse that he would get hurt.

Not to mention that it was a constant worry that his boy would not return from the Marines. Maybe not so much when he was stateside, but when he was in Vietnam. Even in the states he could get badly hurt, Marines were harsh conditions, but over there he was in combat, and Jesse felt as if he lived with a never ending fear for his boy.

Then they boys grew, Luke's time in the Marines was over and he could stop worrying that he would be killed in combat. He still had to worry about what he had been through and what effect it would have on him though. If the boy would be okay after what he had experienced. They did encounter several problems that they had to deal with. Guilt, residual fear, all different things that kept catching up to him. Some were small and easily dealt with, others were bigger and took more effort. There were also the ones that Jesse doubted would ever fully disappear.

He had seen them through their childhood of running wild on the farm, had lived through their teenage years. His hair had first turned gray and then snow white and silver.

Skinned knees and broken hearts he had soothed countless of times.

Then they were youngsters, restless and wild. They couldn't quite seem to find their place in the world and so they were just kind of drifting around, seeking dangers and thrills as they drifted along living for the day.

They were older now, more settled. They were still as reckless as ever though, and he still worried just as much as he ever had.

Bo was easy to keep track off, he was still the baby and he called at least a couple of times every week just because he needed that closeness. He wanted to tell his uncle all about the every day things just like he always had.

When he was racing Jesse would watch it on the television, and he would know he was safe.

Bo also knew that his uncle had a need to know that, and he called several times after smaller wrecks to let him know it was only bumps and bruises, and once a broken arm. So he was never that worried about the boy, not in that way. He suspected he was on the phone every day, if he didn't call Jesse, it was Luke, Daisy, Cooter or Enos. Often he was the one who supplied the old man with information about his oldest charges.

The brunette boy was the hardest one to keep track off. Suddenly he wasn't answering his phone for several days, and Jesse had no idea why until he found out from Bo that he was away on a drill. Luke didn't have the same need for closeness that Bo did, though he did need Bo. Luke tended to forget that what happened in his life would matter to the others. Bo was different, he was the only one he always remembered to tell when he would be gone for some time, though on occasion Bo got the information from his boss because Luke did forget at times.

Jut as he watched all Bo's races on the television he watched all the news spots on forest fires for signs off Luke. Sometimes catching a glimpse off him deep in the flames. He always did seem to be in the thick off it. He didn't need to see the soot covered face to know when he was looking at him either, it was there in the stance, in the actions, how he seemed to be always the one in control off it all. Jesse would sit holding his breath until they declared that none of the smoke jumpers had been injured. Yet it happened that Bo would call him to let him know that Luke was being treated for smoke inhalation or burns, and that he was in a hospital somewhere.

The first time it happened he called up the hospital, worked his way around them until he finally got his nephew on the line and really let him have it for worrying him. In his defense for taking it out on Luke he had been trying to get him on the phone for days, and his big toe had been giving him fits the whole time, only then to find out that Luke was suffering from third degree burns.

It was like when you saw Bo's car spin out of control on the screen and waited for him to climb out and wave to the crowd that he was okay.

He couldn't yell at Bo though, his baby couldn't handle it. It wasn't quite fair but Luke understood. His oldest had been great that way. He understood Jesse and why he acted the way he did. Bo and Daisy understood a man's need for comfort and closeness, Luke understood his need for snapping when worried.

Later he would call Daisy and talk to her, congratulate her on acing her last test, a secret learned from Bo. Then he would call Bo and let him know he had done good on that maneuver on the last lap, the one that had won him the race and that Bo would be surprised that he had noticed. It would be really late after that, but Luke would still be up, sitting with a beer and thinking about the last fire they had been fighting. Jesse would make him talk about it, let him know he had done a great job on it. Hearing his uncle's reassurance and appreciation that he had kept the new kid safe he would feel better for it, give up the beer and go to bed for a good nights sleep.

It was just something he did, keeping track off his kids and making sure they were all okay…

**The End. **

_**Please Review, the Cricket is hungry….. **_


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